Gifting readers a book for the holidays isn’t exactly a novel idea, but a well-chosen title is still an act of love in itself, showing you know what makes your person tick. Even an annotated copy of your favorite book is a priceless gift.
But if you don’t know where to start, browsing the endless bookstore shelves can feel daunting. That’s why we’ve asked our staff reporters and editors at USA TODAY to share their go-to book to give friends and family of all ages.
Our favorite books to gift this holiday
From adult fiction to children’s books, here are 12 books USA TODAY staffers love to tie a bow around (in no particular order):
‘Dolly Parton All the Songs’ by Simon Benoît, Damien Somville and Lalie Walker ($60)
I don’t know anyone who isn’t a fan of Dolly Parton, nor do I care to. So when I find myself in need of a surefire gift, she’s where I turn. My current favorite is this gorgeous coffee table book that’s as layered as the woman herself, and is filled with incredible photos, history of the songs and vast celebrity connections. I’m also a fan of Dolly’s new cookbook, “Good Lookin’ Cookin’,” which is chock-full of American classics and has an accessible price tag of $35.
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‘Everything I Know About Love’ by Dolly Alderton ($9)
Perfect for twenty-somethings, I’ve gifted Dolly Alderton’s brilliant memoir to more friends than I can count. The journalist and former Sunday Times columnist writes an ode to female friendship as she recounts the trials and tribulations of early adulthood. “Everything I Know About Love” has poignant conversations on growing up, dating, and reevaluating relationships with alcohol. My own copy is highlighted and underlined beyond recognition – this book is hilarious, sentimental and will hold you when you need it most.
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‘All Fours’ by Miranda July ($21)
This is a perfect book to give to your female friends, and I’ve already sent to three people this year. To call it a book about a midlife crisis undersells it – it’s possibly the best novel about perimenopause out there. It follows a mom on what is supposed to be a cross-country trip, but instead winds up to be a two-week stay in a motel not far from home. While the woman returns home soon after, she struggles to return to her life. It’s a book you can’t put down, even if it sometimes makes you feel uncomfortable.
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‘Cribsheet’ by Emily Oster ($17)
When I was pregnant with my first baby, a colleague sent me “Cribsheet: A Data-Driven Guide to Better, More Relaxed Parenting, from Birth to Preschool.” Along with the book, she included a note explaining the guide, by a Brown University professor, walks you through every big decision you face during the first few years. “But TL;DR,” she wrote, “Everything you decide is totally fine. You’re not going to screw up. You’ve got this!” I routinely send the same book with some variation of that message to my friends who are expecting.
‘Invisible Child’ by Andrea Elliott ($12)
As a nonfiction lover, I’m always looking for stories that will move me emotionally. This heart-wrenching family saga about poverty, survival and hope in New York City did just that and so much more. The Pulitzer Prize-winning book’s central characters, consisting of a blended family living in New York’s sprawling homeless shelter system, will stick with you for life – in part because the detailed events and drama-filled pages read more like a novel than nonfiction. As a reporter covering poverty and homelessness, this is the book I gift to loved ones who want to learn how America is shaped by inequality. The social justice-minded person in your life will pore over this epic journey.
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‘Wind and Truth’ by Brandon Sanderson ($24)
Fantasy readers have been eagerly awaiting the fifth installment in Brandon Sanderson’s wildly popular “Stormlight Archive” series for years. “Wind and Truth” represents the climax to the first arc of what the author anticipates will be a 10-book series. Fortunately for the fantasy fans in your life, it hit bookshelves Dec. 6, just in time for the holidays. The sweeping epic, set in the unforgiving world of Roshar, features magic and an expansive cast of kings, warriors, academics and assassins. But be warned: If you gift the title to a loved one, don’t anticipate seeing them for awhile. The tome comes in at more than 1,300 pages.
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‘It Was Vulgar and It Was Beautiful: How AIDS Activists Used Art to Fight a Pandemic’ by Jack Lowery ($20)
I have never felt more moved to scream from rooftops that everyone should read a book more than after finishing, “It Was Vulgar and It Was Beautiful.” The book chronicles the creation, climax and downfall of Gran Fury, an art activist collective that fought through the AIDS crisis in the 1980s. Jack Lowery displays a careful selection of interviews with Gran Fury founders, in addition to photographs of the art the collective created, placing the reader among the action. I cried and laughed, felt rage and hope while reading this book.
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‘Thick: And Other Essays’ by Tressie McMillan Cottom ($11)
As an avid New York subway reader, I love the way a collection of essays lets you work through stories in bite-sized chunks. Of all the collections I’ve read, this is my favorite. With razor-sharp wit and well-timed humor, Cottom uses her pen to take aim at the industry of beauty, the self-satisfactory academic and media elite and the way seemingly benign aspects of society reproduce a violent status quo. She pulls a sort of hat trick, laying out an argument in such easy-to-understand terms that you don’t realize how profound it is until you’ve finished reading. Cottom is one of the great cultural critics of our time and her words are the perfect gift for any young person in your life searching to understand the world around them better.
‘Timeless: Diego and the Rangers of the Vastlantic’ by Armand Baltazar ($13)
Don’t let the weight and width of this book deter you. Young readers – and those young at heart – will lose themselves in the historical sci-fi/fantasy novel that has notes of Rick Riordan and features 150 beautiful color illustrations by author-artist Armand Baltazar. Diego Ribera, the story’s 13-year-old protagonist, lives in a world where past, present and future coexist, maybe not seamlessly all the time. He learns secrets about himself and when his father, Chicago’s top engineer, disappears, Diego has to figure out how to save him and their fragile world. When my son read it at age 9, he couldn’t put it down. He loved that it featured different people from different places in different times, together at once.
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‘Sandwich’ by Catherine Newman ($16)
It seems almost every book written about families features a troubled marriage. Newman’s book is a welcome relief, picturing a couple at middle age and their parents and adult children in a way that feels both achingly authentic and sneakily funny. This short book spans one week on an annual trip to Cape Cod, where the family learns about each other, sometimes more than they wanted.
– Trujillo
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‘Deliver Me From Nowhere: The Making of Bruce Springsteen’s “Nebraska”’ by Warren Zanes ($18)
Bruce Springsteen doesn’t do many interviews these days. Doesn’t have to. So to get The Boss to sit down for hours to talk about a moody niche album – “Nebraska” – that he recorded by himself in late 1981 in his Colts Neck, New Jersey rental house is quite the feat. But Warren Zanes had the street cred (former musician turned documentary producer) and writing talent to harness those special contemplative interviews into a story about the meaning of artistic expression, passion and genius. You’ll never get more inside a talent’s head than this book, soon to be a movie featuring Jeremy Allen White as Springsteen. But do yourself a solid: Read the book first.
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‘Lola and the Troll’ by Connie Schultz ($14)
This picture book is perfect for the child in your life, but “Lola and the Troll” is just as great as a gift for a friend. The book follows a girl named Lola and her adorable tiny dog, Tank. On their way to school, they hurry past Tom the Troll, a leaf-covered, fang-toothed monster who holds up handmade signs with insults directed at Lola. Her hair is too big. Her smile looks funny. Her voice is too loud. Lola, terrified, begins to change until she no longer recognizes herself in the face of Tom’s taunting. Schultz, who has learned to deal with trolls as the wife of the Democratic Senator Sherrod Brown, helps kids with kindness and understanding. A lesson we all could use this year.
– Trujillo
Still looking for the right book? USA TODAY Books has you covered.
Taste is subjective, and USA TODAY Books has plenty of genres to recommend. If dragons are your thing, check out books we suggest reading after “Fourth Wing” by Rebecca Yarros. If you’re into mysteries, try these titles similar to “Verity” by Colleen Hoover or see if you’re brave enough for one of our favorite horror novels. If you want something with lower stakes and loveable characters, see if a “cozy mystery” or “cozy fantasy” book is for you. If you want the most popular titles, check out USA TODAY’s Best-selling Booklist.
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